Report: Clean Water Project in Ile Lambi, Haiti

This project provided hygiene, clean water filters, water testing, monitoring and support. to 69 homes on Ile Lambi off the coast of Haiti.

On Lambi Island there is no potable water source, and the nearest one is 4 hours away (3 hours by boat and then 1 hour on foot). Management Sciences for Health (MSH) conducted an initial needs and assets assessment that discovered that the people living on the island needed safe drinking water. As a result of the assessment, a new rainwater catchment system and storage tank was built and now provides up to 400 gallons of water for the island’s population. This water, which is untreated, presents a significant and immediate health risk which the proposed ceramic filters will eliminate. The intervention also includes hygiene and basic sanitation components, which will empower the people of Lambi Island through education and training in essential preventive public health measures such as hand-washing. Pure Water for the World (PWW) maintains an evidence-based and theory driven approach to most efficiently serve community water needs. The model has worked extremely well in Haiti, serving over 110,000 individuals in schools, clinics and homes, in less than 12 months of operation. Following on the success of MSH’s soundly executed and well-received water project in the Corail region in early June of this year, PWW has the support and cooperation of key local stakeholders that will ensure our common goals are met.

By teaching proper hygiene and sanitation practices, this ensures that the health of these people is bettered for years to come, thus making a sustainable project. We also included filter monitoring and random water testing to ensure that the filters are being used properly. 3 community leaders were trained on filter maintenance and proper hygiene practices. They will be able to maintain the filters and ensure that proper hygiene and sanitation practices are being followed.

There were issues with transportation of materials to Isle Lambi. Our staff had made arrangements for a boat to transport everything, however the boat was in need of repairs and it was awhile before they were able to locate another boat in the area that would be able to take the filters and other materials.

The challenges of the project included the post earthquake disruption of virtually all services in Haiti. This project was scheduled to be done in February2010 but was delayed due to the overwhelming difficulties after the quake and the complete absorption of all PWW resources for emergency relief in Port au Prince. Many seacraft were destroyed during the quake making it very difficult to secure services of a boat to make the trip and to do so at a reasonable cost. The cost of all services in Port au Prince soared in the months after the quake as demand greatly outweighed supply.

Further challenges included the extreme remoteness and difficulty getting Ile Lambie. The journey involved a three day boat trip to transport the filters to Jeremie, Haiti. Then the filters were transported to 8 hrs to Corail and then to the Island of Lambi which is a 4 hour boat ride from Corail. There is no ground transportation available in either location so the filters were loaded onto wagons and wheelbarrows at the beach and transported by foot. The terrain was rough, steep and the filters each weigh 300 lbs without the sand thus making it more difficult.

Upon the arrival of staff here,they discovered that there were more families and homes than had originally been noted during our initial assessment. We felt the strong need to serve all of the families.
All 69 homes were served because 18 families agreed to share 9 filters. The paired homes are side by side and the families were happy to share. All 69 homes received their own storage buckets.
So 60 filters installed. Fifty one to single homes. Nine to homes to be shared by two families per filter